When Valentina Tereshkova blasted off aboard Vostok 6 on June 16,
1963, she became the first woman to rocket into space. It would be
nineteen years before another woman got a chance--cosmonaut Svetlana
Savitskaya in 1982--followed by American astronaut Sally Ride a year
later. By breaking the stratospheric ceiling, these women forged a path
for many female astronauts, cosmonauts, and mission specialists to
follow. Women in Space profiles twenty-three pioneers from around the
world, including Eileen Collins, the first woman to command the space
shuttle; Peggy Whitson, who orbited aboard the International Space
Station for more than a year; and Mae Jemison, the first African
American woman in space. Their story, and the stories of the pilots,
physicists, and doctors who followed them, demonstrate the vital role
women have played in the quest for scientific understanding.